Overview of the powerline carrier market
According to the analysts at Technavio, the global powerline carrier market is envisaged to witness impressive growth and will post a CAGR of more than 9% over the forecast period. One of the key factors driving the growth of this market is the increasing adoption of powerline communication (PLC) in lighting applications. Lighting applications use PLC for street lighting automation, including car park lighting, roadways lighting, tunnel lighting, and urban lighting. Since street lighting comprises more than 20% of worldwide electricity consumption and is one of the major expenses for governments and large enterprises, it has prompted governments to move towards automated street lighting networks. As PLC technology does not require the installation of new wires and saves on operational costs, it is gaining traction among government organizations as a preferred technology for automating street lighting networks. Lighting systems can be connected to a network on existing power lines, and the communication can be maintained even underground and through walls. Moreover, PLC technology is allowing countries to shift to LED street lighting and controls at minimum expenditure, which is likely to propel the growth prospects of this market in the coming years.
The increasing development of smart cities and smart homes worldwide is one of the emerging trends spurring the growth prospects of this market over the forecast period. The growing emphasis on energy conservation and resource management is contributing to the development of smart cities and smart homes around the world. PLC technology enables data transmission on existing electrical power lines, and thus it is emerging to be one of the preferred technologies for home automation and smart cities. Moreover, the smart home market is expected to witness tremendous growth by 2020 due to the rising number of connected smart home devices. The development of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and smart lighting in smart cities are also attributed to the growth of this market over the next four years.
Segmentation by technology and analysis of the powerline carrier market
- Narrowband PLC
- Broadband PLC
During 2015, the broadband PLC segment dominated the market and accounted for more than 55% of the market share in terms of revenue. Broadband PLC provides high data transfer rate at a shorter distance, and therefore, better suited for high-bandwidth and content-rich applications like audio, video, gaming, and the Internet. Moreover, it also widely used for indoor networking, which requires high data transfer speeds at short range. These factors have led to the increasing adoption of broadband PLC until the end of 2020.
Geographical segmentation and analysis of the powerline carrier market
- Americas
- APAC
- EMEA
In terms of geography, EMEA dominated the market and is expected to reach more than USD 2 billion by 2020. The growth of this market in EMEA is attributed to the fact that governments of countries like Africa, Austria, Germany, France, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands are increasingly focussing on replacing their aging electrical grids with smart grids.
Competitive landscape and key vendors
The global powerline carrier market is characterized by the presence of several well-established vendors. The vendor competition is likely to intensify with the entry of a large number of PLC providers in the market space. The vendors in the market are developing application-specific PLC systems and are categorized into two technology segments – broadband PLC and narrowband PLC.
Key vendors in this market are -
- Amtel
- Lantiq Semiconductor
- Marvell Technology
- Maxim Integrated
- Sigma Designs
- Cypress Semiconductor
- Echelon
- Lumenpulse
- Semitech Semiconductor
- STMicroelectronics
- Texas Instruments
- Yitran Technologies
Key questions answered in the report include
- What will the market size and the growth rate be in 2020?
- What are the key factors driving the global powerline carrier market?
- What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the global powerline carrier market?
- What are the challenges to market growth for powerline carriers?
- Who are the key vendors in the global powerline carrier market?
- What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the global powerline carrier market?
- Trending factors influencing the market shares of the Americas, APAC, and EMEA.
- What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the global powerline carrier market?
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